


The Hwang

by beginsalie



Category: NU'EST, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Character Analysis, Minor Character Death, abusive dad kinda, hwang ensemble, hyunjin and minhyun are brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:07:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21938701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beginsalie/pseuds/beginsalie
Summary: “If Hyunjin had to describe his older brother with one single word, that would be loyalty.”
Kudos: 11





	The Hwang

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I’m writing this for my secret stay (you can check the project on twitter, #secretstay2019), who also loves NU’EST and who apparently doesn’t ship anything so this has been a long ride because I didn’t know what to write if it wasn’t a ship fic... But I ended up coming up with something thanks to NU’EST, I guess. Sorry for not writing about your bias! I hope you still like it a lot!
> 
> You can find me on my [writing twitter](https://twitter.com/beginsalie);  
> on my [main twitter](https://twitter.com/bychaeng) (where I scream a lot about NU'EST and Stray Kids);  
> and on [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/beginsalie) if you have any question ♡

If Hyunjin had to describe his older brother with one single word, that would be _loyalty_.

There was a time in the Hwang’s lives in which Hyunjin would have never said anything nice about his brother. He was around fifteen years old when their mother died and left them alone with their father, “a rich asshole who only cares about money and himself”, Hyunjin once heard one of Minhyun’s friends say. And it wasn’t like Minki wasn’t right, because he was, in fact. It was that Hyunjin was _so_ hurt he couldn’t bring himself to accept the truth. He was aching so much he thought he only had his father and his brother, and to see his brother turn his back on their dad infuriated him.

Hyunjin spent a year without talking to anyone at all. He despised Minhyun and his father wouldn’t talk to him at all, but he didn’t think that was weird. He would excuse him saying he was a busy man and Minhyun would shake his head and sigh every time he heard his little brother defending their father, but he would never answer back, not to his brother at least. However, Hyunjin did hear him yell at their father when the man was at home back from his business trips. All discussions ended up with a really angry Minhyun, a grin on their father’s face and a big smile on Hyunjin’s one, knowing that their father had been able to upset his brother. Sometimes, Hyunjin was even able to shake his father’s hand (not to hug him, though, hugs were not for men, his father would have said).

Minhyun’s friends spent a lot of time at home because, for some reason Hyunjin didn’t quite understand, it was a rare thing to see Minhyun out of the house. Aron would usually joke around and say the only things the two brothers had in common was their surname, the quietness and the fact they loved to stay in. Minhyun didn’t like it when his friend said that because Hyunjin had never been a quiet person like him, but he had to shrug it off and admit Aron was right. Since their mother’s death and with no one around to talk, Hyunjin had become a silent person. Especially when he dropped out of school. At first, Minhyun tried to argue with him, but everyone knew Minhyun couldn’t really pick an argument with his little brother, so at the end he let Hyunjin do whatever he wanted to. Hyunjin’s friends used to come around to visit him but he fought with Jisung, who tried to tell him his father wasn’t paying attention to him or the family, per se, and that he was a selfish asshole; so Hyunjin kicked him out and told all of them to never come back again. Minhyun never asked him why his friends didn’t visit him anymore, but Hyunjin had a feeling his brother knew.

Minhyun, however, didn’t drop out of college. Hyunjin could be fifteen but Minhyun was already on his twenties, and dropping out was not a choice. Not if Minhyun wanted to leave that place and take his brother with him. So Minhyun had his fair not compulsory attending classes and he attended to the rest of them the best he could, trying not to leave Hyunjin alone at home. His little brother didn’t know but the reason why he never left the house was him. He was scared his father took something on him, that he found something that annoyed him and something happened to Hyunjin. Minhyun had grown to the overprotective feeling toward his brother, he didn’t even deny it. Minhyun was the one that looked over him all the time and did everything for him, even such things as cooking, not caring about his father having a personal chef for the family. He knew Hyunjin wasn’t especially fond of him, but he didn’t care. When Hyunjin was born, Minhyun was already five years old, so he was always conscious of his little brother’s actions, even when they were kids. Minhyun was used to take care of him and he had observed their mother doing so for many years. He knew Hyunjin like the back of his hand, and he knew his brother was hurting. That’s why he tried to be there for him even if it was only silently, waiting for Hyunjin’s immature self to go away and for little Hyunjin to start realizing things.

It happened when their father found out Hyunjin had dropped out of school. He hadn’t found out about it in a year or so because he hadn’t asked about school and no one had told him anything, so when he finally asked his youngest son about his grades, Hyunjin tilted his head in confusion.

“I don’t go to school anymore,” he said, kind of unsure about whether he should go on or not.

His father’s fists clenched. “You don’t? Since when has been this happening?”

“Uh… I— I don’t know. I guess I didn’t come back to school after mom died.”

The man punched the table with one of his fists and Hyunjin jumped out, scared. He knew his father didn’t like them mentioning their mother, but he didn’t think it would cause such a reaction.

“Who let you make this decision without consulting me? And what did I tell you about talking about that stupid woman?,” his father kept questioning him.

It was as if Hyunjin’s brain started working in that moment after a long year resting. He knew his father didn’t like to talk about his mother, but he never knew why. He only assumed his father was only hurt, that he was mourning, just like him. But suddenly, with only a few words, everything started to make sense. Minhyun’s friend’s words. Jisung’s words. Every time Minhyun yelled at his father. All of that was for a reason. And Hyunjin stood up and ran away, not minding the screams his father was directing at him. Because if something was sacred to Hyunjin, that was his mother. He didn’t really know where he was running to but he did know that he was looking for his brother. He didn’t spend too much time running because Minhyun had heard the screams and was running looking for him too.

“Hyunjin! Are you okay?,” Minhyun breathed heavily holding his brother by his shoulders, trying really hard not to hug him, knowing he didn’t like it.

Hyunjin nodded but couldn’t help a few tears running down his face. “Can we go out of here?”

It was the first time after the accident that Hyunjin asked for Minhyun’s help.

They went to their uncle’s place. Their uncle is their father’s brother but he is, by far, a much better man. And the best thing about their uncle’s place, at least for Hyunjin, is their aunt.

Their aunt is a beautiful woman who has always taken care of Minhyun and Hyunjin (if you ask her, she will probably tell you she has a soft spot for Minhyun since their mother kind of always spoiled Hyunjin, but both women always adored the brothers with all their hearts). Hyunjin loved to spend time with her since she always had beautiful stories about his mother to tell (they were good friends) and since she always gave him the tightest, warmest hugs. Hyunjin didn’t mind hugs weren’t for men in those moments because his aunt’s hugs reminded him of his mother’s ones and were worth it, no matter what anyone would say. Something else he loves about visiting is their cousins.

They are both girls and are close to Hyunjin’s age, in fact, Yeji is Hyunjin’s age. His aunt and his mom used to joke about them having two girls and two boys to balance the world. Eunbi is two years older than Hyunjin and three years younger than Minhyun, and even though the age gap is shorter from Hyunjin’s part Eunbi has always been closer to Minhyun, maybe because they were born first and there was no one around before them. For Hyunjin, there hadn’t been a single time of his life where Yeji wouldn’t be. He was born in March and she was born two months later, so they would usually joke around about being twins. Hyunjin would usually play with Yeji and do her hair, and Yeji never got used to not having her hair in buns or ponytails, so she ended up asking Hyunjin to teach her how to do it and that’s still her hairstyle up until now (she even asks Hyunjin to do her hair every time she sees him because she thinks he does it better than her).

Arriving to the other Hwang place, Hyunjin apologized to Minhyun. Minhyun asked him what was he apologizing for and Hyunjin just said “everything” and hugged him. Minhyun raised a brow and Hyunjin shrugged off, saying he didn’t think hugs weren’t for men anymore. “Anything dad has ever said is bullshit,” he added. Minhyun nodded, smiling a little and pulling his brother closer.

The next years were full of Minhyun’s friends, of Hyunjin’s friends (they were totally full of Jisung, to whom Hyunjin apologized a thousand times thanks to Minhyun’s advice), of the other Hwang and of themselves.

Hyunjin doesn’t believe family is something you are born with. He believes family is something you choose. And he knows Minhyun had chosen his years ago when their mother died. Minhyun never, ever, left any single member of his family alone, including Hyunjin’s friends. He always had them in mind, even when Hyunjin hadn’t.

If Hyunjin had to describe his older brother with one single word, that would be _loyalty_.

And _love_.


End file.
